


Sburb Guide

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Other, walkthrough
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-20 03:46:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/580967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>==> Read the SBURB "guide".<br/>You scan the SBURB guide. The summary says that it's a general "guide" of sorts, and is full of headcanons, pondering, and ideas. It also says to critique and add on in the comments, if you please.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Table of Contents

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sburb Glitch FAQ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/340777) by [GodsGiftToGrinds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodsGiftToGrinds/pseuds/GodsGiftToGrinds). 



TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Beginning  
What is Sburb?  
Terminology

Starting SBURB  
Game Interface  
Game Constructs  
The Entry Sequence  
Sprites

Session Constants

Exploring Different Worlds  
The Storyline  
Quests  
Dreamselves and Dream Worlds  
Consorts

Carapaces and Exiles

Waking the Land  
Denizens  
Your Land Quest  
The Knell

Healing the Land  
Your Other Land Quest  
Space Players Alert!

The End?  
The Ultimate Alchemy The Final Boss  
What Really Happens?

All About You  
Stats  
God Tiers  
Classes  
Aspects  
Passive or Active?

The Bad Stuff  
The Others  
Corruption  
Trickster Mode  
Underlings

The Good Stuff  
Echeladders  
Alchemizing, Grist, and Boondollars  
Fraymotifs  
Teams

The Other  
The Scratch  
First Guardians and the Green Sun

The End (of this guide)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just looked stuff up and the Sburb Glitch FAQ is supposed to be fanfiction, apparently, set up as a guide. I honestly didn't know and thought that it was a guide + a whole load of headcanons. My life was a lie (just kidding).  
> Anyways, this is supposed to be a roleplaying guide, as I have trouble with remembering the whole format and decided to type it all out for myself and others, in case anyone wanted to add or disprove.  
> I have borrowed a load of words from that FAQ, just saying.


	2. The Beginning - What is SBURB?

Q:What is SBURB?  
A:The world will never know.  
From what we can see, it has no definite “end” or “start”, but it’s definitely a game of some sort. One of the many goals is to create a new universe. You could say this is the main goal, or the only goal. However, I think the main goal is to die as little as possible. Which is actually pretty hard to do.

I feel pretty sorry for you, because if you're reading this you're probably about to start playing the dreaded game SBURB. Along the way, you'll die, grow up, die some more, kiss your friends' corspes, die again, attempt to rage quit because man, SBURB is really annoying, and die. Hopefully with luck you won't die TOO much because again, dying is definitely not fun.  
Please don't expect anything from this game except for death, tears, sloppy death makeouts, and weird time shenanigans. You won't be winning or losing here; your only goal is to make it through your end without completely dying.

Good luck. You'll need it.


	3. The Beginning - Terminology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here, I'll give you some basic words of the game that you should probably know. It'll get pretty confusing if you don't, so as the famous walkthrough write tentacleTherapist once said, "Try to learn the lingo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might want to check back here later, as there are plenty of terms you won't hear until later in your game. Good luck!

Sburb is a complicated game, with numerous different factors, places, machinery, and terms. When I first started playing, it was confusing for me, but you'll need this knowledge as you go.

Use ctrl+F or cmd+F for finding a word.

Let's start with a very basic word.

Sburb - the game you are about to play. A few goals are to : die as little as possible, attempt to ascend to God Tier (however this requires dying - but more on this topic later), and create a new universe.

Some terms in SBURB comes up next.

Incipisphere - the "dimension" in which Sburb will transport you to. It has five parts in it - the Medium, the Light and Dark Kingdoms, the Veil, Skaia, and the Furthest Ring.  
Medium - a part of the Incipisphere, this part houses the players' planets (your personal land).  
Prospit - the Light Kingdom. This planet has a moon connected with a chain, which is where your dreamselves live. It orbits Skaia. It's perpetually fighting Derse to protect Skaia, but is always destined to lose. Its dreamselves see the future in Skaia's clouds.  
Derse - the Dark Kingdom. This planet also has a moon connected with a chain (where the dreamselves live). It's farther away (past the Veil), and is near the Furthest Ring, where the horrorterrors live. Derse is always trying to activate the Reckoning to destroy Skaia, and is destined to win. Its dreamselves can talk to horrorterrors (usually unadvised).  
The Veil - a belt of meteors that will eventually destroy your home planet (such as Earth), and then Skaia.  
Skaia - a "dormant crucible of unlimited creative potential". I have no idea what that means. It is at the end of the Seven Gates, and at the center is the Battlefield, where the physical war takes place.  
the Furthest Ring - the home of the horrorterrors. Space and time do not work in here, but if you follow the Green Sun's light you can use it to go to the Green Sun, and then use that as a one-way path into the Furthest Ring. 

Terms pertaining to you, the player.

Dreamselves - Every player has at least one dreamself. Half of these live on Prospit, and the other half on Derse. They are generally more dense than you are, have "magical powers" (including dreaming up extra arms and flying), and are awake whenever you fall asleep, with a couple of exceptions (mainly Heart players). The dreamself is a projection of who you want to be inside, cheesy as it is. Prospitian dreamselves see visions in the clouds and the horrorterrors whisper to the Dersite dreamselves.  
Planets - Every player also has a planet pertaining to their personality and god tier title. The format of a Land is "The Land of X and Y." For Space players, it's always "The Land of X and Frogs." You have a special quest on your land that helps you mature.  
Denizens - Every land has a denizen (pertaining to your aspect). You must defeat your denizen as part of your quest. This can be accomplished through strife or talking. The Denizen will be sleeping when you enter the game, and to wake it up, you have to play a magical song that only you can play. It will then offer you a Choice, which is crucial to your quest. It is said to keep a humongous grist hoard for the Ultimate Alchemy, unlocked when you defeat it. However, most believe that it's main purpose is to offer you the Choice, which deals with facing your own mortality, and is customized to you. Choosing one over the other may lead to death, but as a famous Space player once said "your death may even be necessary to accomplish a goal".  
Consorts - Normally amphibious creatures that reside on your land. You can talk to them, and they own shops (fraymotifs can also be brought from them).  
Totem Creatures - Creatures that also reside on your land, and are seen frequently/important to the quest. When ascending on your planet, they will cover your body.  
God Tier - Some of the highest levels of power in Sburb, this status grants you extra bonuses and godlike powers. It'll be discussed a lot more later.  
Class - Part of your god tier title, this shows how you use your aspect. For example, Princes destroy x and with x (x being the aspect). Seers know x inside and out.  
Aspect - Part of your god tier title, this shows what you can control. For example, an x of Light deals with luck and knowledge. An x of Heart deals with emotions and the soul.

Normal things that you should know.

Guardians - I'm ashamed of you if you don't know this. Your guardian takes care of you. A figure of authority in your life.  
Sylladex - the Inventory system of SBURB.  
Captchalogue Deck - The deck of cards (the number of cards determine how many items you can hold).  
Fetch Modus - How you carry things. (To pick items up, you captchalogue them.) Example: Dad has Wallet Modus (stick anything in your wallet). Kanaya has Chastity Modus (you'll find the key for the object you captchalogue right when you need it, not before or after). It's possible to just reach into your modus with the Tree Modus and Miracle Modus.  
Strife Specibus - How you fight during Strife. Example: John has Hammerkind (he uses a hammer to fight). Rose has Needlekind (she uses needles -brutally, may I add- to fight).

Echeladder - A rating system in SBURB. Of what, no one will ever know (it's probably just in general). It rewards you with Boondollars, Gel Viscosity

Game terms.

Grist - A type of resource used in SBURB for building and creating. You can get them from recycling objects (useful with Recipe Modus) or winning a Strife. Stronger enemies (imps to Denizens is the scale) drop higher amounts of grist.  
Boondollars - The Incipisphere's currency. You can earn these by completing side quests or leveling up your Echeladder.

Kernelsprite - A game construct that serves as a guide to you in the beginning. It appears as a sort of spirit. You must prototype it at least one time to ensure you'll have a chance to win your game. At first, they're useless, screeching balls of light, but once you put something in it it becomes a ____sprite. If the item was alive once, it can talk. More on this subject later.  
the Seven Gates - Multiply the number of people in your group and subtract one. That's how many gates you have above your house. They all lead to another place, on or off your planet, and the last leads to Skaia itself. The gate is in the form of a spirograph and is in your text/eye color (weird, how this coordinates).  
Return Nodes - These look like one of the Seven Gates, but on the ground instead of above your house. They take you back home. the Reckoning - Derse's goal is to start this. It activates something to start taking the Veil's meteors and try to destroy Skaia through asteroids. It's a 24 hour event. Skaia trys to block it with portals leading to Earth (which destroys Earth). Sooner or later, it'll start to hit Skaia. The Earthbound meteors take one of the clones of your teammates and guardians to Earth, to the correct time.  
Frog Temple - A mysterious temple with a frog on top of it that comes from the Incipisphere. The Reckoning delivers them to where they need to go and they contain various SBURB equipment needed in the game.  
Green Sun - A gigantic green sun in the middle of the Furthest Ring. It's bigger than Earth and Alternia (not that you know what that is)'s universes put together. There is only one in existence of all of the many universes out there. It's the source of the First Guardians' powers.  
Tumor - In the middle of Skaia lies the Tumor, a highly explosive round black and white spiky ball. In the middle is a triangle with a countdown to its activation.  
Scratch - A final desperate resort to try and save your session. When started, it releases a load of temporal energy to make the session different, and possibly able to win. This will be expanded on later.  
Scratch Constructs - The thing needed to facilitate the Scratch itself. If damaged with an object potent enough to actually damage it, it will start the Scratch. First Guardian - an entity that exists to protect its planet and "facilitate the planet's ultimate purpose". They are usually as old as the planet itself. They're mysterious and annoying, and every planet with intelligent life will have one. They are near omnipotent. The Green Sun is the source of their powers.  
Dream Bubbles - Horrorterrors created dream bubbles, which allow you to live in shared memories after death. If your dreamself is dead, you will wake up in these.

Ectobiology - A science that allows the cloning, breeding, and genetic modification  
Transportalizers - A pedestal used to transport items and people to a set place. The white ones all lead to the ectobiology lab on the meteor in the Veil. The purple and gold ones lead to the other kingdom.  
Lotus Time Capsule - A lotus shaped capsule that stores items outside of time so they may be taken to the future without damage or harm. It resembles a Cruxtuder (a cruxtuder contains the Kernelsprite and Cruxite Dowel. You'll learn more about these later on.) The countdown shows when the item inside can be released.

Important People.

Exiles - Carapacians that were forced to leave their original Incipisphere planet and live on the post apocalyptic planet the players (your team) had left behind. They travel alone, dressed in rags, and eventually come across command bases shaped as your entry item (discussed later. It's exactly what it sounds like.). In the base, they find SBURB Interface Devices so that they can contact the players as another source of help. You will hear them in your head.  
Black King - The leader of the physical war from Derse, the Dark Kingdom.  
Black Queen - The ruler of Derse, overseeing the political affairs.  
White King - The leader of the physical war from Prospit, the Light Kingdom.  
White Queen - The ruler of Prospit, overseeing the political affairs.

Carapacians - Species that reside in the Medium, or mainly Prospit and Derse. They have a hard black or white shell, depending on which kingdom they live in. They seem perpetually tired, were all cloned in the Veil (and have barcodes on their wrists), and resemble chess pieces.

There are a lot more terms, but there are too many. Here are some of the ones that stood out most to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Message me (is that possible? I'm not used to Ao3) if there are any words that you feel that I am missing!


	4. Starting SBURB: Game Interface

When starting the game, you should have two game disks. If you don't, there's a serious problem. Get them as fast as you can, especially the client (if you start playing the game earlier than the rest of your team) disk, because you'll need them.

One should say client, and the other should say server. Make sure you have a player chain set up first, if you have more than two people, so everyone is a client and server once and only once. Otherwise it'll get confusing.

For this entire chapter we're going to pretend you're the server. Now, once you've installed it and connected to your client player, you'd better get cracking, because there's only a small bit of time you have before the meteors start coming down. You'll see your client's environment, in a Sims-like setting. The little spirograph - that's one of SBURB's logos, besides the house one - is in the corner, next to the save, file, and close buttons (if only you could use those buttons). Then you'll see the magnifying glass, rotate buttons, and navigational compass thing underneath. Finally, we come to the important things. 

First up, we have Select. This, naturally, is used for selecting things so that you can move, build, destroy, it doesn't really matter. 

Next, there's Revise. You can use this for building on, or "revising" the room. Naturally, to build you need resources. That's where the grist comes in. Build grist, the normal blue gusher-y thing, is the one you use for building, and the one you'll see the most. The other types will appear as the monsters that drop them appear, and they're used for alchemizing, mainly. But more on that later.

We have Deploy, used for taking things from the Phernalia Registry to be put to use during the game. And use them, you will. Especially that Alchemiter (the big platform-y thing), later on in the game.

Now we have the Phernalia Registry, filled with fun things such as the Cruxtuder, Totem Lathe, and Alchemiter. Those are the ones you should focus on now, because they're the first in the Registry and easily accessible with the use of the Phernalia Registry and the Deploy buttons. These first three are freebies and don't cost any grist, because they're meant to help you get set up in the game. However, they are large, so put them in a place where you can easily reach them without moving around too much. Revising a room to be able to fit them costs grist, and so does actually MOVING them after you've set them down/deployed them.

The Grist Cache shows how much grist, or building supplies, you have. Keep an eye on this until you have a steady wealth of grist from fighting (hey, you level up, too!)

In the Explore Atheneum, it shows what materials you have gotten after every cruxite dowel you retrieve. 

Finally, in the Alchemy Excursus, you can see every single thing that your team has every alchemized, in a sort of index showing every result from the punch alchemy card combinations. Very useful, when you start making useful items.

That's what you should see when you start playing the game as a server player. You'll learn more later on what to do and how to do it.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, critique and correct my mistakes as I go along with this horrible idea. There are probably a lot. Thank you for reading!


End file.
